


Darker, dearie

by Afaye



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Beating, Blood, Boss - Freeform, Child, Cruel!Gold, Domestic Violence, Extremely Dubious Consent, F/M, Face Slapping, Family, Fear, Forced Orgasm, Forced love, I promise I will try to make it HEA, Italian, Pain, Past, Rape/Non-con Elements, Run Away, Scarification, Stockholm Syndrome, Torture, hidden child, mafia, vow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-04-27 14:50:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5052907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Afaye/pseuds/Afaye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roberto Gold hates when people get away from him. When the Mafia Lord's wife runs away from he is shattered. She belongs to him, he had brought her in exchange of safety for her father.  </p><p>Belle has been broken by the darken one, the Boss of the biggest crime family, Roberto Gold. She has suffered, loving him in her own way, but when she finds out that she is pregnant, she runs away to protect her child.</p><p>Hidden, she returns to Storybooke, five years later to vist her father's grave. She had suspected it and it turns out to be a ploy by Roberto. Now with his tiny wife in his hold again, he decides to break her so throughly that she never ever thinks of leaving<br/>him,  but can the sweet four year old Rose, melt his icy heart?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He could see her, she was still so tiny under that thick black cloak. She turned around, probably making sure there was no one around. He hid in the shadow of the statue of an angel with her hands to the sky. He blended well in the shadows. "Papa..." He heard her soft whisper. "I am sorry I couldn't save you from him, but I won't let Rose be hurt. " She placed a single white rose on the fresh grave.  He didn't know who this Rose wasn, but he didn't care. He moved stealthly, a single hand darted and he pulled her close to him. "Did you think you could hide from me forever, mi gatinna?"  She started kicking and screaming, trying to get out of his tight hold. "Let me go Roberto... if you ever loved me, let me go..." He touched his lips to her forehead, "I love you Belle, that's why I can't let you ago, not again." She squirmed, wanting out. She should have known it was a trick to get her back to Storybooke, five years after she had left. Her eyes were stuck to her car. "Please Roberto." She was begging, crying and trying to push him away. "Shush, you don't want me to give you the injection on your first day back, do you?" The threat made her collapse in his arms, the injection was a terror that had plagued her days with Roberto Gold. It was a serum that he had used to make her bend to his will, it would burn through her, causing an agony too great to fathom till he injected her with the antitode. It was one of the many tortures he had used to make her weak and dependent on him. 

"Good girl. Now I want you to come home with me without any kicking or screaming. One word and it will be the injection." A firm grasp on her wrist and he dragged her with him to his black Caddilac. She gave a last look to her car, praying Rose did what she had asked her to do incase Roberto took her. But she was a four year old! What could she expect? The door of her car opened and all the color drained from her face. "Mama!" A young girl ran to them on her pudgy  feet. "Run Rose... Go to your aunt!" Belle begged. A tight slap shook her. "Catch her Dove." The black suited bald man ran behind the kid and grabbed her. "Belle, how old is she?" Roberto's voice was cold. Belle shook her head, her cheek a bright red. "You are asking for the injection, my wife. Tell me how old she is or I will shoot her." He growled. Belle whimpered. "Four and a half..." She had been born exactly six months after she ran. "Dove bring the girl to me." He shoved Belle into the car, taking the crying girl in his hold. "Hey, hey Rosy.. it's okay." He cooed to her. His cold brown eyes sparkled with warmth for once. "You're the man from the picture." The baby said grabbing his long nose. "What picture?" He asked quietly. "The one mama hugs while sleeping." He raised an eyebrow at his wife, locked in the car, struggling with the door. "She can hug me now." He smiled at the child. "She said you are a bad man, to run  to aunt Ruby if I saw you. Will she be mad?" She asked,  instinctively trusting this man. "No my little Rose. She won't be mad." He bounced the child on his hip. "Promise sir?" She asked. "Yes. And you won't call me sir." The girl frowned. "Call me daddy." He kissed her forehead.  

"You shouldn't have run, gatinna.You shouldn't have stolen four years of my daughter's life from me." Roberto held his wife in his arms as she cried and convulsed with pain clawing at the antitode he held in his fingers. "I loved you so much, more than anything, I set the world at your feet. You broke me." He tugged at her hair. "I will give you something I haven't ever given anyone. A second chance. You will obey me like a good girl and let Rose have the life she deserves, not as Rose French but Rose Gold." He pulled her hot feverish arm and injected a light pink liquid in her veins. Her skin cooled, yet she was shaken.  "You are a monster." She spat. He cuddled her in his lap. "I know my sweet angel. But if you are a good girl you needn't see my monstrous side. Rose will never ever see it, if that's what you are worried about." He kissed her carefully, like she were a wounded animal, she had missed him so much in the last five years, not his cruelty or his riches, but the tenderness of the affection he showered her with. "No more hiding, Mrs Gold. Not now, not ever". He hummed her a lullaby, something he hadn't done for anyone except her. The exhaustion  from driving non stop for sixteen hours and the recent pain came together and she fell asleep, her head in the lap of her husband, from whom she had run to save her child. When he was sure she was asleep he lovingly traced the mark he had made on her nape eight years ago.  
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••●•●•●•●•●•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

{Eight years ago }

"Please Mr. Gold, sir, please. Save us, he killed my wife and is coming back for us. Only you can stop him." The snivelling man begged, holding Roberto's feet. "Who?" He kicked the man away. "Killian Hook." Now Gold was intrested. He didn't leave a chance at hurting Hook. "What made him notice you?" He asked. "He owns the land, I couldn't pay his rent..." the man drooled. "I could help you..." It was enough to spark the hope back in the poor florist. "But... I don't 'help', I barter. In exchange for my aid, I want something." He smirked, a half crooked smile. "Anything." The florist kissed his boots. "Her." He pointed a finger to a girl peeking from the door. "Come out, mi gatinna." He cooed to her. "I am not a kitten." The girl said, coming out staring at him defiantly. "Belle! Go inside..." Her father urged. "Shut up. You know Italian, gatinna?" He would have to break her, she was far to defiant. "Si." He walked to her, appreciating her beauty. "So Moe? Do we have a deal, your pretty daughter in exchange of your lives." Belle stared at him and then suddenly made to kick at his groin. He caught her leg before she could hit her target. "You are very ill behaved aren't you?" He pulled her into his chest. "She is naive sir, forgive her." Moe begged. "I will not let you sell me away father." She hissed. "Would you rather have have dead, gattina? Lying lifeless in a pool of his own blood, white against the deep crimson, eyes rolled back, tounge lolling out. And his skin..." Belle squirmed, "Stop, please... stop." He chuckled at her words. "Do you think Killian would listen to your pleases, your begs?" He felt her slump, saw her surrender. "I'll come with you." He knew she would submit, they all did. "Good girl." 

He had scratched a dagger on the door to their shop and home. "It means you are under ny protection. Killian  needs me to permit him to kill you. If he hurts a single hair on your head, he will owe me a blood debt and trust me, no one wants that." Gold was a beast, taking what he pleased, whenever he wanted. So no wonder his cover business was a pawn shop. "In here gattina." He pulled her to the backroom.  Her bright blue eyes stared at him. "Did I permit you to look at me? Eyes down." He swung his hand slapping her. She fell back with the pain. He sat on a turned chair, arms resting on the back rest, holding his cane. "Now you will answer every question of mine truthfully. How old are you?" Through a broken voice she managed, "Nineteen." He wasted no time. "Are you a virgin?" She couldn't help herself, her eyes went up. "Eyes down, do want me to cane you? Answer me" He growled.  "Yes." It pleased him. "Perfect you will be all mine." She snorted defiantly. "You may think so, but you will never own me." He laughed. "We will see about that, mi gatinna." He called someone called Whale. "Dr. Whale is a surgeon with Storybooke General Hospital, little Belle, but he has a hobby that I find very intruging. He's a licenced scarification artist. Do you know that is, pet?" He asked her. "Tattooing... without ink." She mumbled. "They create scars on you, scrape away the skin, mark it." She shivered. "I've never had it done, but you can tell me how it feels like."

It felt awful, she screamt herself raw, before blissfully passing out. Roberto Gold held her in place while the surgeon marked her as his. "Good enough?" Whale asked wiping away the blood from her nape. "It's exquisite." It was his signature, a curving 'R' with  block letters spelling Gold enclosed in a neat circle. She was his forever. He carried her to his bed tucking her in.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the appreciation people. I wondered how people would take to an abusive Gold, I wasn't quite sure.

Belle curled into the rockingchair. Nothing had changed in the last five years. The family's kitchen bustled with activity in the morning, Ashley Byod was making pancakes with her daughter clinging to her leg. When she had left, the girl was but a baby. It looked like Sean and Ashley hadn't wasted much time, along with Alexandera, a small boy hugged her and she was heavily pregnant. She shivered, thinking it could have been her. Roberto had told her, "We will have six kids, mi gatinna. Three boys and three girls." She had been terrified of him then, even more than now. She never had a say in any descion, she would just have to follow. Robin, a sweet guy who worked for Roberto smiled at her, he gave a one armed hug to Regina. They had been a couple some time after she had come to the house. They still hadn't had luck with children. Everyone else steadfastly ignored her, like she wasn't even there. Maybe they were unsure of what to make of her presence. She rocked faster in the chair. "Would you like some coffee?" A young, handsome guy offered her a cup. She chuckled. "You are new here aren't you?" She asked. He blushed, nodding. "I am not allowed to have breakfast or any meal before Roberto comes down." She explained. The man frowned. "You are his mistress?" The reply was a gun shot firing, nicking his ear. "She is my wife, keep your eyes away from her Will." Roberto growled. He scurried away, hunting for an ice pack. "Where is your ring, mi gatinna?" His voice was cold and furious. She tried to hide in the chair. "I sold it." She felt her hair being tugged from its roots. "You what?" He roared. She hissed in pain. "You are such a brat, selling away something I gave you with so much love. You don't deserve the kindness I am showing you." He pulled her to the ground by her hair. The chaos in the kitchen stilled. 

"I think I should call Whale again. Maybe give you a ring you can't get rid of." Belle was empty, dazed and submitted. His anger was like a tidal wave, all she could do was let it wash over her. "Mama! Look what I made!" It was Rose waving a picture running down the stairs. Roberto immediately released his grasp on Belle's hair. "Why is mama crying?" The girl asked. Belle was still out of it, rocking on the ground, in a fetal position. "Your mother isn't feeling too good, show me what you drew, Rosy. " He took bent to get down to her. She looked a lot like her mother, with the blue eyes and heart shaped mouth, but she had his hair. "I drew us! Mama, you and me." The child giggled. He gave her one of his special smiles, genuine. "Let me take your mother up and once she feels better, we'll go to the park. Okay Rosy?" The girl squealed, throwing her arms around his neck. "Ashley, get Rose to take a bath and dress her in one of the dresses they delivered this morning." With that he picked Belle up in his arms, carrying her to their room. She seemed to weigh nothing, she had lost far too much weight. As an after thought, he said, "And send up some pancakes for Belle" She was lost in her own world, unaware of the fact she was being carried. He set her on the bed, seeing how blank her face was, he kissed her lips. She kissed him back. "Belle, love? I am sorry I lashed out." He held her tightly. "Aren't you always." She stated, still expressionless. He pulled out a blanket and wrapped it around his wife's shoulders. When she had left him, he was crushed, she was the only person he had ever loved. Yes, he knew he had been cruel to her, but he had made it up to her hadn't he? He had spoilt her with gifts, expensive jewellery, designer dresses with matching shoes and enough books to fill a library. She had taken nothing with her when she left, except for the awful memories and scars that he had adorned her with. He had tried so hard to keep his fury in check but he couldn't, not when he saw she had hidden his adorable daughter from him or when he realised she hadn't taken the ring as a keepsake but as a means for money. It was the most expensive thing he had given her. But it wasn't the cost that made him angry, it was how she had discarded the symbol of their marriage. "What do you mean, gatinna?" She just slumped, unanswering. He smoothened her hair, pressing soft kisses to her, hating how terrorised she was, yet the darkest part of his soul rejoiced, revelling in her brokenness.   
••••••••••••••••••••○○○○○○••••••••••••••••○

{Eight years ago}

Belle woke up, handcuffed to a bed pole. She wasn't dressed in yesterday's clothes, a soft silky white night gown covered her. It wasn't skimpy, it was beautiful and classy, exactly what one would expect from Gold. She would have felt like a princess, if not for the handcuffs and the odd stinging sensation at the back of her neck. She turned around and stifled a gasp. Her captor was sleeping next to her, clad in nothing but black pajamas. She tried to sit up as quietly as possible, but the handcuffs created a jangly noise and Gold's eyes darted open immediately. "Go back to sleep. It's four in the morning." He said groggily. "I am not sleepy anymore." She replied. "Then sit quietly, don't make noise." He covered himself in the blanket. "Can I read your book?" She pointed to a hardcover. "Fine. Just don't move too much." He turned around and went back to sleep. 

It was a very intruging read, a tale of a battle ravaged land with no heros, only very real flawed characters and a poignant love story. When Roberto woke up, she had finished the six hundred page volume and was sobbing at the heartbreaking end. "Hey, hey, what's itching my kitten's fur?" He tugged her closer to him. "She died. And he was all alone." Roberto got up, taking the book from her, he set her in his lap. He loved how sweet his girl looked, delicate and flower like in his hold.   
That afternoon he brought her all the books by the author, a peck on his cheek was his reward.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No past sequence in this chappie!

"Belle, I am taking Rose to the park, do you want to come with us?" She hadn't uttered a word for the last two hours, just rocking back and forth on the bed. Her blue eyes were absolutely clear, no emotions seemed visible. Roberto gave a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I'll get you a hamburger." He promised. Her shattered state was something that had been very common in the years of their marriage. If he shouted at her too loudly, or made to hit her, she would simply zone out and he'd have that aloof look on her beautiful face to rake the guilt in him. She'd be back in a couple of hours, he knew that, this was her coping mechanism. He almost walked out of the room and then turned back. He sat next to his wife and pulled her into his lap. She was like a rag doll. He hugged her tightly. "I am sorry. I swear I will control my temper with you. It's not your fault, okay? It is all mine." He massaged her scalp, hating how he had hurt her. "I will make it all better." He whispered in her ear. She was his to protect, even if it meant protecting her from his own self. "Love you." She slurred into his chest. "I know mi gatinna. And I will try to deserve your love." He tucked her back into bed, caressing her affectionately. He lay down next to her, throwing a light arm around her. She snuggled into his hold, for the first time not running from him. 

When Roberto finally took his daughter to the park, it was evening. He hadn't been able to leave Belle in her fragile state. When she finally drifted off to sleep, he lay watching her. It was only when Rose came to their room, crying because he had broken his promise, did he prise himself from Belle's embrace. Little Rose loved the Storybooke park. "Gassy never took me to the park." She yabbered slobbering him with kisses. "Who's gassy?" he asked. "He said he was papa. Mama said no." The child got distracted by a butterfly. It was another thing that had been niggling at his mind, there was no way to that he could be sure if his sweet wife had moved one. He had always been aware that she had never been truly in love with him, hell, out of all the people he knew how bad a case of Stockholm Syndrome it was. She was exquisitely beautiful, and so loveable, she could easily have a string of parmours. He had to fix the facade of their marriage, make her truly love him. He had to change, for both his angel and his daughter, lest she found her happy ending with someone who wasn't him, who wasn't as fucked up. "Sweetheart, I have to buy your mama a ring. You'll help me pick?" He asked his cherub. "Yes daddy!"

The Miners trove was an exclusive jewellery store, one of the few properties in Storybooke he didn't own. "How can I help you sir? " A young blonde girl in a blazer and pencil skirt gave him an artificial smile. "I would like a wedding ring." He narrowed his eyes at her name tag. Zelena Green. She looked somewhat familiar. The girl nodded, showing a tray of golden rings studded with diamonds. "Rosy?" The girl frowned, shaking her head. "Mama won't like any of them." The salesgirl snorted. "Miss Green, I request you to mind your manners, unless you want me to speak to the manager." Zelena immediately sobered up, bringing out another tray. "This!" Rose pointed a pudgy finger to a platinum band. He picked it up. It was beautiful engraved with leaves, with a rose shaped diamond encrusted on the top. It was perfect for Belle. "Why this one my little Rosy?" He kissed her cheek. "Mama said the best gift my daddy gave her was a rose, that's why my name's Rose!" She giggled. Roberto remembered the rose he had given Belle. It was a good day, he'd been very pleased by her. "We'll take the ring." Zelena moved to take it to the counter with it. Roberto set down his daughter, but before he could hold her hand, she ran to a display. "Pretty!" She stuck her face to the glass staring at a pink sarwoski stone wind around bracelet. "Eeew! She's leaving marks all over the glass." Zelena squealed. Gold gave her a cold, hard stare, making her quiver. "Baby, come here." He called her. "Daddy, pretty!" He kneeled next to her. "It is pretty, you want?" She nodded her hair vigorously. "Then we'll take it too." His daughter hugged him. "I love you daddy!" She beamed at him. "And I love you too, mi princespessa!"


	4. Chapter 4

Belle was still sleeping when they returned home. "Mama! Mama! Look daddy gave me a gift!" Rose jumped on the bed. "Let her sleep, Rosy." But it was too late, "Umphf?" Belle made a groggy noise. "Mommy!" Rose hugged her. "Hello Rose. What was it that couldn't wait?" Rose thrust her hand forward. "See!" The color from Belle's face drained seeing the pink crystal bracelet. "Give it back to your daddy." Her voice was cold. "Belle, love, it is a gift." He cooed to his furious wife. "Nothing is a gift with you! It all comes with a price." She trilled. "Rosy, go down and play with Alex. Your mother and I need to have a grown up talk." Rose frowned but seeing her father's look of despair, she knew she had to do exactly that. She ran down, pink crystals shimmering.

"Gattina, let me hold you." He said softly. "You won't hit me?" Her voice was small, gone was the strong woman she had been. "No. Not today, not ever again." He sat next to her, taking her in his arms. She curled up. "I am so sorry for torturing you every minute you've been with me, for hurting you. I should have kept you like a Queen,  not a slave." He kissed his little wife on the top of her head. "I love you Belle. I don't want you to look at every gift I give either of you with hatred,  there's not much I have done to make you trust me.  But I promise I will change. I swear." His blue eyed  goddess kissed his collar bone. "I love you but I don't think I can trust you." He nodded gravely. He had to change his ways for his kitten. Seeing Will look so smitten with her had shaken him. She could do so much better. "Do you mind?" When she shook her head, her took her hand and slipped the ring he had bought on to her ring finger. She sighed. "It is beautiful." She slipped deeper in his embrace. "Rose picked it." Her face steeled again. "I don't want you to hurt her. I know how you work. You will sweeten her with gifts and treats and then when her heart is in your palm, you will crush it. " He could have slapped her, his fingers twitched, it wasn't her words, but the truth in them that stung. She was so right. He always destroyed what he loved. Not this time. He refused to lose his child and wife. "I won't, mi gatinna. I will not crush this family. I will change. Just give me a chance, I beg you." He growled. The darkest man in America, the most powerful Mafia Lord since Al Capone,  begged a five foot one inch woman for a second chance. "I will give you one chance. One single chance, but I need security. I want it in writing that you will let me go, and take Rose with me as far as I want and never try to come near me if you blow this up. I never cared much for wealth, but I want to Rose to be secure. You will set up a trust fund for her in case it happens. No hitting me, no abuse, no injections. Those are my conditions. Oh and no calling me gattina. Ever" Roberto chuckled, she truly had changed yet she still hated that nickname. "I agree, luce dei miei occhi." She groaned. "Can't you come up with something less elaborate than the light of your eyes as a nickname?" He laughed. "Whatever pleases you, cuore mio." She smiled. "I like that." He shrugged. "It is true, Belle, you are my heart."  
______________________________________

{Eight years ago, a couple of months after Gold procures Belle}

"Shit. Shit. Shit. I will fucking shoot Hook in the balls." Gold smashed a glass cabinet with what Belle called the cane of feelings. She looked up from her book, ducking to avoid the shower of glass. "What did he do this time?" Roberto raised an eyebrow. Most people knew to leave him alone when he was in a temper. "Well dearie, I happen to have a very important dinner tomorrow with Luciano Gambino. And that bastard whisked away the flower decoration girl to Bahamas. Now this shouldn't be a disaster, but Gambino refuses to deal with anyone who doesn't have flower arrangements in their place. Whimsical nut." He growled. "I could do the arrangements." Belle offered. "You...what?" He was bewildered. "I am a florist's daughter. I have worked with flowers since I was a baby. If this is so important to you, I'll sort the arrangements." She said as if it was no big deal. "If you manage to do this, mi gatinna, I will reward you very well." He gave her the half crooked smile that, even though she would admit to no one, gave her flutters in her belly.

Belle was way better at flower arrangements than the regular girl was. She had decorated the family house in a cascade of classy arrangements. Gold didn't even remember half the names of the flowers she had used. All he knew was that the house looked and smelled amazing and that Luciano loved it. "It is perfect. Beautiful. You have artists in your walls. Artists!" He had said with a thick italian accent. It made Belle think, Gold didn't speak like that. His accent was deeper, sexier, and Scottish. There must be a story, she thought, one of these days, she would uncover it. With Roberto Gold micromanaging her life, the only things left for her, were stories. He had allowed her full access to his personal library and most of the family members had intruging tales. She didn't quite get why Gold kept her. He hadn't fucked her, he didn't need her for cleaning. All she had to do was been in the range of his sight, most of the time and to cuddle to him while they slept. He hadn't asked her to do the latter,it had just happened. She was sleeping in the same bed and one morning she found herself with her head on his chest, hugging him tightly. He didn't mind. It had made him kinder to her. He didn't hit her so often and he had given her that awful injection he kept threatening her with only once. He had even given her an ointment to rub on her nape to cool the scratching that stupid scar like tattoo brought on.

"I am very pleased with you, mi gatinna. Gambino loved the flowers. He wanted to buy you from me." Seeing her stricken face, he caressed her cheek. "Don't worry. I told him you were mine alone." She allowed him to pull her into his arms and leaned up,biting her lip. She could feel him warm around her,his chest beating against hers. "I have a gift for you." He tucked a rose above her ear. She giggled, blushing. Roberto held Belle's chin delicately and pressed his lips on hers. She burst with sensations, her craving for physical affection fulfilled. Roberto Gold was kissing her. She should be pushing him away, struggling, not serving herself on a platter. "Stop.. Please. " She whispered. Roberto smiled, kissing her forehead. "We have all the time in the world, soon I will claim you as mine, when I take your maidenhood." She yelped Inspite of herself. "Don't get all jittery. It's not happening today. It will happen only after we are married." She paled. "Married?" Belle's voice was a weak whisper. "What else did you think I got you here for my kitten? I need a sweet virginal bride brave enough to love me. You are the perfect candidate. And that piece of information was your reward for the good work."


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No flashback today.

To Roberto, Belle throwing her hands around his neck and kissing him was heaven. He had loved her since the moment he had seen her. She was his. "Will you let me take you out to dinner?" He asked. "To Granny's?" Roberto frowned. He was thinking more on the lines of a five star in Boston. "If that's what you want." His wife nodded. "I'll get Rose to clean up." She stood up. Her placed his hands on her shoulders. "Sweetheart, I was thinking it would be better if it was just the two of us. I have missed you so much." He couldn't help put hug her. "I missed you too. Gaston was a distraction, but he wasn't you." She mummered, more to herself than him. "Gaston?" He held back the dread in his voice. She looked up at him. "He was a good guy, we went out a couple of times. Then he tried to get Rose to call him papa. That was the end of it." She shrugged.

"Belle, if you had it your way Rose would have never seen me. How does it matter who she called her father?" His wife did something he never expected. She slapped him. "You think so little of me. You are a wretched bastard. Rose always knew you were her father. That's why she trusts you. I was going to send you a divorce notice as soon as I could afford it. I was going to offer shared custody. " She hit him again, her frustation finally having an outlet. She managed to hit his chest a couple of times before he snapped out of his shock and caught her wrists. They were so fragile in his grasp, he could snap them. She was such a brat, hitting him. All he wanted was her to love him, was that too much to ask for? She had left him, with no good bye. How was he to expect her to have contacted him. She was going to send him a divorce notice, break with him for good. "Little brat." He growled in her ear, seeing her tremble with fear was oddly soothing. She was caged, trapped, no where to go. "Roberto..." She whimpered. "Shh... bad girls don't get to speak." He squeezed her wrists. "You promised." She screamt. "You promised too, promised to be mine till death did us apart. If you want me to keep my promise, you will keep yours" 

She shook her head. "You will never change, you are a monster, you will always be one." She rasped. He released her all of a sudden. "Maybe I won't. Maybe I will. But right now, I need you to run. Hide wherever in the house you want to. And don't come out for a few hours, because I will hurt you. I can't hold it in." He hollered. She stared at him. "Run!" She scampered, dashing for the library, her safe place. It was progress, she thought. He hadn't hit her, she had provoked him deliberately and he was trying to keep her safe from himself. She didn't expect him to change overnight, yet this was a baby step. She smiled softly and settled on the library couch. 

Roberto smashed a vase. He had almost broken the deal. He had been one step away from bashing her into a wall. She was a minx, she knew exactly how to push his buttons. He wasn't a fool, he had seen her cheeky grin as she had run. He had fallen for this maddening fire in her, the girl who didn't think twice before trying to kick the nuts of the most powerful man in town. God, she was marvellous.

Belle looked up from the book and saw Roberto standing nervously at the door. "You know you can come in right?" She joked. He walked in, staring at his shoes, like a naughty school boy. "Here." He handed her an envelope. "What's this?" She took it out. "It's a contract which says if I ever hurt you again, you have the grounds for an immediate divorce and full custody of Rose. The others are papers of the trust I am setting up for rose. And that's your passport, so you can leave the country if you want." He stated. "Thank you." She put it on the table. "Are we still up for dinner?" He toppled over his own feet. "You still want to go out with me?" His voice was a ghost. "Of course!" She laughed. There was hint of a real smile on his face as he left.

"Are you fucking nuts, Belle?" Ruby had dragged her to a corner as soon as Roberto had gone to the washroom. "Ruby, he wants to change, I love him, he's Rose's father. I can't deny him that chance." She shrugged, playing with her sweater sleeves. "No one gets better. He needs help. Lots and lots of help. Have you asked Archie?" She suggested. "Ah..no..." Her finger tugged a thread akwardly. "Stop playing with it! It is sooooo annoying." She pushed away the sleeve. Ruby gasped. "He hurt you again. Didn't he?" The finger marks where he had held her still showed. "Actually, I was trying to hit him and he grabbed my hands." Ruby just shook her head. "I still say run, but even if you don't, at least ask Archie for help."


	6. Chapter 6

"Belle?" Dread clutched his heart. Their room was empty. "Curoe mio? " His voice increased. She wasn't there. If she had run, she was going to have hell to pay. He walked down, calling out to her. "Robin, send the boys around town. Find Belle." He shouted. He was panicked. "Regina call your informers. See if anyone has met Belle in the last four hours. And call Ashley, she took the kids and Rose out for a movie. I need them back here. ASAP." He barked orders. He should have never given her so much freedom. He called her phone. She didn't pick up the line. Then the phone switched off. He threw a wine glass against a wall. He couldn't sit around. He walked down to the basement of the mansion, A huge space they had converted to a make shift prison. He walked straight to the last cell. A man curled in the corner. His clothes hung loosely, like they had been made for a larger man. "It seems she has run again. Maybe killing you for real will jolt her. I swore I would change, take her of her like I should have. Why would she run? Why?"

He fired a shot at the man's knee. He just gave a faint groan, like he was too tired to even scream. "She came back for you, not me. You had her love and you turned her to me, for your life. What a useless man you are." He hissed. He aimed at the man's head. "Stop. Please stop Roberto." It was his girl's voice. He turned around, Regina was holding her. "She was on her way to Boston in Miss Lucas' car." Roberto tugged her harshly. "Running again?" He glared at her. "Let me explain, please." She sobbed into his chest. "You have two and a half minutes." He held her in a hold that was almost painful. "I was overwhelmed. Rose has taken to you so well, I was scared okay? I was turning back when Regina caught up with me. I would have come back. I swear." She cried. He rubbed her back, easing her. "Shh..Shh... let me take you out of here. It's okay. You need some tea and a nap, that's all." He cooed to her. His wife was trembling against him. "Quite my baby. I am going to take care of you. Don't cry. " She let him hold her, it was her fault this time. "Who's that?" She pointed to the man bleeding in the cell. "Uh..." Roberto couldn't explain, but strangely the man turned. "Papa!" Belle screeched. "Oh my God! Please Roberto, get him out.." She shook. "Trust me Belle, once you know what he did, you'll want him locked up more than me." He stroked her hair. "At least get him a doctor. I will make it up to you, for running instead of believing in you." He felt her dainty hand on his crotch. It had been too long. "Belle?" She looked at him. "Please?"He groaned. "Oh fine...whatever...get him a doctor Regina and see that no one disturbs us." He practically carried Belle to their room.

He laid his girl on their bed. "Are you sure?" He would never take a woman against her will. That was a line even he didn't cross. "Yes." She unbuttoned his shirt. "I missed you." He kissed her neck. "Let me touch you." He rasped. His fingers couldn't get enough of the smoothness of her flesh. She was tiny and delectable. She curled her fingers in his hair, moaning as he buried his face in her pleasure core. He had always given her pleasure before seeking his own, even on their wedding night. "I love you Belle." He nibbled her ear lobe. "I love you too Roberto." She pressed her lips to his chest.   
{[(THE AUTHOR IS BAD AT SEX SCENES SO PLEASE FILL GAP USING YOUR IMAGINATION)]}  
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"So what did Papa do?" Belle was curled around her husband's chest, their naked bodies tangled together. "He ran into some trouble at The Rabbit's Hole with Keith Naught. Something over an unsettled debt. Keith said he'd get him barred from the pub if he didn't pay up. So he went to Killian for a loan." Belle gasped. "It was a good thing I had an eye on him. He planned to sell your location to him. Killian was looking for some leverage over me, what better than my wife? So instead of letting him go, I had him brought to me,we got your number, staged his death and put him inside." He shrugged. "He's pathetic. I'd never chose my life over Rose." Roberto rubbed her back. "It's okay, cuore mio, a few months down there will straighten him out. Then he can go back to his shop and leave us in peace." Belle beamed at him. "Thank you." She said. "What for?" Belle took his hands in hers and kissed them, "For not killing him. He may be an idiot but he's my father. I appreciate it."   
______________________________________  
[Eight years ago]

"Papa!" Belle hugged her father. "It feels like years since I saw you." He gushed returning the hug. "It has been half a year, so there's that." She laughed. "You look beautiful and rich, just like them." His eyes went to a picture of the family, taken a week ago, hanging by the door. She was there in it, too, sitting in Roberto's lap. She looked happy in the picture and she had been that day. Regina's mother, Cora was visiting, she handled operations in London. "And I will take my regular place in the picture?" She had cackled, kissing Roberto on his cheek. He had given her a look and pulled Belle in his lap. "Maybe you should stand in the extreme left Cora. After all you are not really here all the time." It wasn't a suggestion, it was an order. For the first time in her life Belle had felt like a part of something.

"He treats you well?" Moe asked. "Sort of. He takes care of me." Her father could easily sense the hollowness of the words, but he chose to ignore it. "So what was the great occasion that required me to be summoned by the Dark one himself?" He said only half jokingly. This may have been where his daughter lived now, but he wanted to avoid the place at all costs. Belle just raised her left hand. A twenty karat solitaire shone against her pale fingers. Moe gasped, leaving a wheezy sigh. "He? You? Why?" He didn't know what to do. "He loves me and he has been lonely. " She shrugged. "Congrats then, call me for the wedding." He managed to mumble before running. It was then Belle started to cry, he was truly a horrible father.


	7. Family Fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **The author apologises for the unplanned hiatus and tries to make it up with a super fluffy chapter and a promise to try to give a 2000 word chapter by 15th!**

"Can we watch a movie daddy?" Rose pulled at her father's pant. "Of course, my princess." Roberto took his daughter to the home theatre. There was a soft couch and the screen. It was a huge empty room otherwise. "Why don't you pick a movie while I get your mother." He set down the collection of movies, and started up to his room, with the door ajar. "Curoe mio, would you like to watch a movie with Rose and me?" He sat next to his wife, who was buried away in a book. "Huh? Oh, yes definitely. But what are we watching?" She asked, throwing her arms around his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist. She wanted to be carried, and Roberto was only too happy to fullfill her desire. "I let Rose pick the movie." He kissed her nose. "No..no..no...that girl has a knack for picking the wrong movies." She got down and ran to her daughter, while Roberto followed, chuckling. Alas! The damage was already done. "Mama, I picked the color movie." She passed the disc to her mother. Belle narrowed her eyes and waved it in the father's face. He blushed deeply. "Honey, this is a big people movie. Why don't we watch Harry Potter?" Belle stealthly plucked the disc and put it in the player. "Sorry Belle." He nuzzled her neck. "I really didn't think she would choose Fifty Shades of Grey. Man, I am a shitty parent " Belle giggled at his embarrassment. "It's okay Roberto. You are a good father." She snuggled into his warmth. "Shhh..." Rose hissed, as the adults looked on amused.

Half way through the movie, Rose fell asleep. "Do you want to come back to bed or watch?" Roberto asked Belle as he picked up his daughter. "Watch." She curled on the couch, a ball of adorablness in her bunny pajamas. He dropped her a kiss and went to tuck Rose into bed. The room that had been set up for the new princess of the castle, was in a phrase, too pink. One wall had fuzzy deep pink wallpaper while another had a pink castle painted on. Even the bookshelf Belle had insisted on was baby pink, with unicorn stickers. A whole wall was covered with shelves holding soft toys and Barbies. Roberto had left no stone unturned in making the room look like a little girl's version of heaven. "Sleep mi princepessa." He lay her in the beautiful rosewood bed and pulled over the blanket. He ran a hand through her hair, wonderstruck by the sheer resemblance she shared with Belle and him. 

"Did I miss anything?" And Belle launched into a full blown explanation of what had happened in the last twelve minutes, even though she needn't have recounted it. Both of them had watched the movie a billion times, after all it had been the first movie they had watched together in this home theatre. Belle put her head in his lap, letting him massage her head, gentily and soothingly. Little by little, she felt her resistance chip away and she fell into a deep, comfortable slumber. Roberto didn't realise that his wife had fallen asleep on the couch, till the next morning, when he had to hold back a fond laugh, as he woke up in front of the huge screen, a tangled nest of limbs with his wife. It was the best sleep he had had in a long time, even though his neck hurt from the odd angle. Anything was worth seeing Belle without a guarded expression. God , how much he loved her!


End file.
